At 80, Reclusive Garbo Still Beautiful, Admired

September 18, 1985|By Frederick M. Winship, United Press International

Greta Garbo will mark her 80th birthday today in her beloved second home, Klosters, Switzerland, with a young escort on her arm and an enigmatic smile on her still-beautiful face.

American friends who have been with Garbo in Klosters in recent weeks are careful to guard the anonymity of the legendary film star`s new companion, but one of them described him as tall, handsome and ``about 28 years old.``

The man is believed to be a houseguest at Garbo`s chalet, which she occupies with her secretary. The threesome have been seen strolling the streets of Klosters daily, Garbo and her escort arm in arm, locked in animated conversation punctuated by laughter, according to observers.

For these outings, Garbo wears pants, her trademark floppy hat, this one of straw, and carries an alpenstock to help her navigate Klosters` up-and-down Alpine streets.

``She doesn`t really need a cane,`` said New York business executive Robert Schuler, who has been in Klosters with his wife, singer-actress Patrice Munsel. ``She looks wonderful. She is smiling and flirtatious. All of us should look that good at 80.``

Garbo is expected to return to her apartment on New York`s East 52nd Street, overlooking the East River, shortly. She has lived there in seclusion for many years, seeing only a few close friends and venturing out for occasional visits to neighborhood shops or a museum exhibition.

She has not emerged from obscurity since 1978, when she circulated an affidavit to the press describing an ``authorized biography`` bought by the Simon & Schuster publishing firm as a hoax.

Last year Hollywood tempted to coax her out of retirement once again to play herself in the film Garbo Talks, but she refused, and the shadowy role was played by Betty Comden. Garbo was invited to the gala premiere but did not respond.

This was not unusual for a woman who once refused an invitation to the White House. President and Mrs. Johnson asked her to a state dinner for visiting Queen Elizabeth II and it was suggested that an old friend, publicist Earl Blackwell, escort her. Blackwell telephoned her and urged her to go.

``Earl, what are you getting me into?`` Garbo asked. ``I have nothing to wear!``

One of Garbo`s closest friends, diet expert Gayelord Hauser, died earlier this year at age 89. Garbo did not go to Hauser`s memorial service but she received some of his intimates at Hauser`s home in Beverly Hills, Calif., afterward. She was described as ``remarkably gracious and sweet to everyone.``

Most of her friends say she didn`t really ``vant to be alone.`` Rather, she has fought a lifelong battle against overwhelming shyness. One of her close friends described her as ``a sounding board for others with no real emotion of her own.``

She was born Greta Gustafsson in Stockholm on Sept. 18, 1905, daughter of a laborer. She was a hat model studying at the Swedish Royal Theater Dramatic School when she was ``discovered`` by director Mauritz Stiller, who brought her to Hollywood in 1925 after she made several films in Sweden.

Her first American movie was a silent, The Torrent, an immediate success. Garbo survived the transition from silent films to talkies despite her Swedish-accented English, and her Anna Christie was referred to as ``Garbo Talks.`` One of her most popular films, Ninotchka, was dubbed ``Garbo Laughs.``

She made 24 films in her 15 years in Hollywood and became an American citizen in 1940. Her only failure was her final film, Two Faced Woman, which was made during World War II. The actress decided to suspend her career until the war ended, but she grew increasingly indifferent toward making a comeback in spite of many lucrative offers.

For more than 40 years, Garbo has concentrated her interests on supervising her large fortune, said to be in Hollywood real estate, preserving her health by following Hauser`s vegetarian and exercise programs, and collecting antiques, especially French 18th century furniture.

She never married, although her name was linked romantically with film actor John Gilbert, director Rouben Mamoulian, symphonic conductor Leopold Stokowski, financier Eric Rothschild-Goldschmidt, businessman George Schley and Hauser. Like Sweden`s Queen Christina, whom she portrayed on film, Garbo preferred to be ``a bachelor`` with no lack of admirers -- even today.